Just a Game
by a Baked Kitten
Summary: Link, having been psychologically scarred by his encounter with Termina, has returned home to Hyrule, living at peace.  Although trying to remove the unexpected flashbacks and seizures out of his life, Majora's return pays no respect to his symptoms.
1. This Kid Has No Sense of Humor!

**READ THIS BEFORE GOING ON:**

This chapter in "Just a Game" contains language not appropriate for children below the age vicinity of preteen.

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This will be my first story on , and I'm glad to be writing it. I've always had a great passion for writing Zelda stories, especially Majora's Mask. Please don't be too critical on this story, but I would like some serious thought into the reviews if you give me one.

This is set about a few years after the events of Majora's Mask. It will be very confusing when you read this, then the story, but please be assured that this plot will open up into something that will be easier to understand.

And, on a last note, this will be, as usual for most fanfiction stories, the shortest chapter that I will be posting.

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A vast field stretched out across the countryside, its grass blazing with a horrifying fire. The flames stained the sky, shifting the beautiful blue to the radiant red. The smoke choked the roots of plants, withering them until not even a stem was left. This field, this once glamorous field, was dying. But not from the fire.

The distorted peaks of crags lay to the north, smoke pulsing from somewhere out there. A river now ran from the summits, fed by the snow that had been there only seconds ago. The mountains offered much protection from the outside, but not from the trouble that originates inside.

The ocean to the west had now become a sea of fire. The water was now running with a red tide of both blood and flame. Although not all of the sea had been burned, it had failed in its main objective.

The swamp to the south was nothing more than long miles of dust, ash, and embers. The water that had run throughout the marshes had been dried up due to the intense heat, and the giant volcano-style hill appeared to have blown up from the inside. Whatever lived here lived no more. But this place, in fact, was hurt more by itself than anything else.

The canyons and savannah to the east changed little. The red rock covering most of the area was normal, the futile fields and farms only became more of what they already were. But the village that had been built there was gone, as well as the major tower of stone nearby. Even this place was damaged as much as the others, even if it wasn't by appearance.

The shattered remains and carnage that the moon had created during its impact had been scattered across the land, although many were in the ruined town it had crashed into. Its hideous visage had been sent to oblivion along with its essence.

A boy lay on the streets, coughing up blood and ash. One of his legs had been dismembered, but was nowhere to be seen. The straw hat that had previously been on his head was gone, as well as the mask.

The mask? Oh yes. The wonderful mask . The mask that had tempted him. The mask that had destroyed him. The mask that had burned Termina to the ground. That mask.

"Happy now?" a voice asked the boy.

He looked up to see his mask hovering slightly above the ground, the eyes staring at him with a playful look.

"You son of a bitch." The boy replied, lunging for the mask with both of his hands, but was stopped by the extreme pain in his leg.

"Now don't be so mad." The mask said, floating a little closer. "Wasn't that fun?"

"You tricked me and used me."

"Now now, I didn't do anything to you. You were in complete control when we were together."

"But you did something to me! You made me do this!"

"I know, isn't it beautiful?"

"Hundreds of people dead is not beautiful! This is not what I wanted! You said you would give me ultimate power!"

"And I did. You pulled the moon out of its orbit. Can a mortal do that?"

"I wanted to use it for something else! I just wanted my friends back!"

"Well kid, your friends are dead. I wouldn't want much with them anymore."

The boy's eyes grew with pure hatred. He attempted again to grab the mask, wanting to pull it to the ground, smashing the eyes and ripping it apart like the explosion had done to his limb. But his mutilated leg stump crossed his path again, averting him from reaching out past his thighs.

"You killed them!" he screamed. "You killed them!"

"Hold on, let's just calm down and talk about this." The mask said, with humor in its voice. "I killed them? Last time I checked, it was you who brought that moon down on this town. All I did was watch."

"And you didn't tell me how absurd were my actions were?"

"Not at all. I actually found it quite funny."

"You're a lunatic! You find pleasure in death!"

"I would have found more pleasure if I would have killed that Link kid."

"So you did control me!"

The mask suddenly looked confused. But the boy could tell it was a false.

"You admit it!" he said. "Say it you gutless wood chip!"

Suddenly, the mask grew dark.

"Ya know, you're really starting to get on my nerves." The mask told him, his tone getting a little threatening.

"You don't have any nerves! You're a mask! A Couple's Mask!"

"I don't appreciate it when you insult me."

"Shut up you cuccoo heart!"

That did it. With those last words, the mask forced itself onto the boy's face, halting the incoming insult. But it could hear one last remark coming from his muffled mouth.

"You never had the courage to kill Link you rainbow piece of shit!"

"Silence you pestering child!" the mask ordered, its voice becoming a terrifying shrill pitch. "I'll kill you if you say another insolent quote!"

"Then do it! I have nothing to live for! Kill me! Kill me now! I dare you!"

It wanted to. It really wanted to. This kid was pissing it off. But it couldn't. If it did, he would get what he wanted. Peace. A quiet place in the afterlife with his friends. His dead friends.

"No." the mask said. "No. I think I'll let you live."

As the mask released its grip on the boy and began to depart, he began throwing out his aggravating comments.

"Come back here!" he yelled. "Don't you back out on me! You coward! Come and kill me!"

The mask turned back to face the boy.

"No." it said, its voice once again a playful manner. "You still have much to live for, my friend."

"Argh! Come back!"

Suddenly, the voice sounded pleadingly.

"Please, come back."

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As the mask revised what had happened over the past two years in its mind, its thoughts kept bringing it back to that boy, Skull Kid, the one it had tricked and fooled into bringing the moon down onto Termina. But the mask tried to push that away, and decided to focus on what to do next.

Suddenly, frustration surged inside.

What? Frustration? How could it feel that? It had just finished its greatest endeavor! An endeavor that took three long years! Termina was gone forever! But, something was missing. A puzzle piece that was yet to be put in. But what was it? What was it?

Oh yes. Him. That damn boy from the forest. The one it chose to hoodwink instead of kill.

"Link… you fool." It thought aloud. "You thought you killed me. Your simulation of undertakings played a major part in my campaign. Now you're home, sleeping peacefully in that Hyrule of yours, unaware that you failed your quest."

"Time to pay you a little visit."

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Well, hmm? What did you guys think? I know, I left you with one confusing plot, but like I said, this will start to come together after a while.

For those of you who have played Majora's Mask, you're probably rereading this over and over again to completely understand. But what you've read is what you've read. There's no trick.

Please review, if you have the time. I enjoy seeing other's opinions of my work.

Oh, and one more detail. The insult Skull Kid gave to Majora, (obviously, that was him. There's no trick in that, either.) "cuccoo heart", is an alternate version of "chicken heart", which means a coward. I just decided to give it a Zelda twist.


	2. A Golden Age

**READ THIS BEFORE GOING ON:**

This chapter of "Just a Game" contains language for children below the age vicinity of preteen, as well as a short period of bloody violence.

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Far from Termina, there lay another land. This one, however, was not burning from the impact of a falling meteor. In fact, it was in the opposite state of its depressed counterpart. It had reached its Golden Age.

The crowded marketplace of Castle Town was filled with hundreds of merchants from distant lands, trading their goods in hope of getting some of the wealthy city's well known gold, which they soon found out was not obtainable by any citizens, but only by the royal family themselves.

A young Hylian leaned against the limestone fountain in the town center, watching the crowds gather around certain areas. He looked to be in his teens, and hadn't developed even a slight mustache or beard. His eyes were icy blue, and his hair was a definite blonde, with maybe a few dark streaks.

He wore a common set of clothes for a citizen of this land: a white tunic as well as a white cap to match it. He wore brown slacks and on his feet were a pair of large boots. The hat, however, had dozens of green patches that had been sown onto the surface, which, to many in the square, was quite odd.

The Hylian seemed to be focused on a building. His blue marbles stared lifelessly at an old building that had been boarded up. White paint that had once been there was scratched off, leaving barely discernible spots of color. His expression seemed to be confused as well as cautious.

As he gazed off blankly in another direction, towards the Temple of Time, Castle Town's infamous chapel, he caught sight of what seemed to be a man wearing a black cloak near the doors to the church. His face was cut off by the darkness of his hood, but anyone could tell that there was a mischievous look on his hidden face.

_Just a game…_

"Link!" a voice yelled, suddenly jolting the Hylian out of his thoughts, and pushing his gape away from the strange man.

He instead turned to see a youthful redhead girl standing next to him. What came to his eyes was panic, and he once again fixated on the Temple of Time, ignoring the disappointed look of the girl. But the man, however, was gone. His first thought was, obviously, that the figure was an illusion.

"Link, is everything all right?" she asked him, a deep concern in her eyes as she stepped into his view.

The Hylian looked behind her one last time to check if the man had reappeared, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah." He told her. "I'm fine."

"Then can you please help me carry these?" she asked happily, and unexpectedly dropped two large glass jugs of milk in his arms, almost knocking him off balance. "I've gotten a permit from the king to set up a shop here in Castle Town, and I can't take all this milk by myself."

"A permit?" Link asked, mystified. "Where?"

The girl pointed at the building Link had been staring at before.

"There." She answered after she had returned her hands to a wooden wagon filled to the edges with milk jars. "At the old Happy Mask shop."

Instantly, a sharp needle pierced his thoughts, sending him into a flashback.

_Link turned to see a jolly pale man dressed in a purple robe, with an enormous backpack from which masks hung from._

"_I own the Happy Mask Shop. I travel far and wide in search of masks…" he said, staring at him with an enterprising look. "During one of my travels, a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp in the woods. So here I am at a loss… and now I've found you. Now don't think me rude, but I've been following you… for I know of a way to return you to your former self."_

Suddenly, Link sees himself, a weak and defenseless Deku Scrub, suffering from a curse given to him by _that mask_. The one the Happy Mask Salesman had so foolishly lost to the imp in the woods. Yes. _That mask_.

It had caused so much trouble and terror for Termina. It had fooled that imp into pulling the moon out of its orbit, and setting up a shop of puzzles and repulsion for Link. But he had destroyed _that mask_. It wouldn't ever bother him or Termina anymore, even if it had survived somehow. It had learned its lesson. Right?

Right. There's no way he'd crawl back into battle, fatally wounded from Link. He wouldn't be that desperate.

Would he?

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"The shelves still seem to be set up." Link said once they were inside the old Happy Mask Shop. "I think you can find some use for them, Malon."

The red-haired girl quickly dropped the handle to the wagon and jumped over the wooden counter to inspect the ancient shelves. Link made a puzzled expression at the unusual sight of her energetic behavior.

"Yes, I think they'll do just fine." She commented after examining all of the shelves extensively from top to bottom. "But I don't think I'll use them for storing milk. That's what this back room is used for."

Malon carefully stepped over to the door of the storage room in the way back of the shop, watching out for any fallen debris that still had nails wedged into it.

Link kept vigil as she opened the door and disappeared into the back room, then began to follow. Something, however, halted his progress. The sign that had been there three years ago sat in its original spot. It was dusty and some of the text had been scratched out, but all the dates and all the names of masks that had been sold on specific days were still there. He laughed and recalled the day when he first came here, and took up the job of venturing throughout the land, searching for people who were in need of a "Happy Mask".

He quickly scanned the list of all the masks, but stopped dead near the bottom. A date was written there. A date he knew all too well. That was the second day he was in Termina! But the Happy Mask Salesman was in Clock Town at that time. How could he have sold a mask that day? Did he have a substitute? He shook his head. Not many people would engage in a long and enduring job, with days of usually no sale.

He looked below them. His eyes grew wide. The third and fourth days he had spent in Termina were also written here! The Happy Mask Salesman had been there on the third, and he had departed on the fourth! He couldn't have possibly got back here in less than a day, and sold a mask as well at perhaps midnight. He was about to take a closer look when his ears twitched from the piercing sound of a female scream.

"Malon!" he shouted, expecting a response. But he got nothing.

His spine tickled with worry, and he quickly rushed to the storage room. Malon stood in the doorway, frozen in fear. Her hand reached out to halt Link from approaching any further.

"Don't move." She ordered, without any eye contact. "If we exit quietly, it may not notice us."

"What is it?" he asked, trying to keep his voice down.

Malon's eyes suddenly lit up with surprise.

"Shit, too late!" she yelled, and ducked down as a large metal blade crashed through the wall, spreading stony rubble across the shop, barely missing Link as he jumped to the side for cover.

As he struggled to get up, Malon grabbed his arm and ineffectively hauled him towards the exit. It didn't take long for him to notice her skirmish, and jumped in an upright position to save her the trouble.

He smiled at her, giving her the message that he was alright, but she replied with a flash of petrifying fear. His grin faded, and his eyes directed, as if from a magnet, towards the clearing dust of the broken wall. When it all had faded, he saw the armored body of an Iron Knuckle, clutching its frightening double-bladed axe.

"Oh shit is right." Link said humorously, disrupting the Iron Knuckle's silence.

The massive fiend moaned in anger, slamming his axe down on the counter before dashing over it towards Malon and Link.

"Go!" Link screamed, literally pushing Malon out the door just as the wall split open from another hit from the axe.

The two stepped out into the market, which was still crowded with the morning sales. The Iron Knuckle quickly alarmed the citizens in the area, as well as the Royal Guard, who formed a semi-circle around the Happy Mask Shop. In a flurry of action, Malon and Link were able to escape from the clutches of the steel monster, leaving it to crawl out the shop slowly and steady.

As people in the crowds noticed what was happening, they began to loom towards the guards, who pushed them back from going any further due to the danger.

The Iron Knuckle noticed that it was surrounded, and stopped advancing to its primary targets. It stood still, watching the mounds of people gathered around.

"Drop your weapon." The militia adjured, spears and bows at the ready. "Drop it!"

Link knew that wasn't going to work. Iron Knuckles won't listen to any Hylian. They would fight it out to the death.

"Drop it, or we'll have to kill you."

The Iron Knuckle instantly reacted to the threat and hurled his axe at the crowd, striking one of the soldiers in the throat. He let out a distorted gurgling sound before he fell to the ground, red hot blood pumping out of the cut in his esophagus. The Royal Guard let loose all their arrows, as well as their spears, but did no sort of lethal damage to the Iron Knuckle.

Without grabbing the axe, the armored foe broke in a sprint towards its locked targets: Malon and Link, who were pushing through the crowd as they fled.

As it eagerly threw itself through the crowd, the Iron Knuckle promptly noticed that its enemies were getting away at a rapid pace. It tore off the heavyweight armor around its chest, significantly increasing its speed.

When they had reached the town gates, Link turned around just in time to see the Iron Knuckle swing one giant metal fist at his head, flinging him off the drawbridge and into the shallow river below. The last thing he heard was the terrified scream of Malon and a loud boom as everything went black.

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He didn't know how long he was out. An hour, maybe two. Maybe even a day. All that mattered was that he was alive, and the Iron Knuckle was dead.

Link's eyes fluttered open to the warm glow of Happy Mask Shop. A couple of the walls had been turned to rubble, letting in some of the daylight sun, but what was left was more than enough to keep the building stable.

"He's awake!"

Malon came rushing to his side, eyes sparkling with happiness. He couldn't help to smile back.

"I never thought you would wake up." She told him. "I thought you were dead."

"I'd have to say the same." He replied.

"Of course, without me and my musket here, you would have died." An eerie, yet familiar voice said.

Link sat up and turned to the main counter, where a cloaked man stood, holding a strange wooden contraption in his hands. When he had noticed that Link had made eye contact, he removed his hood, revealing a well-known face.

"The Happy Mask Salesman." Link said, the name stored in his mind like the memory of Ganondorf.

"Please," he interrupted as he saw Link's mouth begin to move again. "Do not call me that anymore. My face has lost the privilege of being happy."

As he said those words, Link then became aware of his depressed facial expression, completely different from the happiness he used to have.

_He still has __**that**__ mask. _

His eyes suddenly became blank. The haunting memories of Termina returned again with another flashback.

_As Link accepted the challenge, his eyes went blank with a painful light. When the white had cleared, he found himself in a colossal room of twisting colors and walls. His enemy was sealed on the far wall, its surface dark with sleep, awaiting Link's confrontation. When he approached, the eyes lit up with a blistering yellow and red. The frightening foe detached itself from the wall, its spines on either side of its façade dancing around with ominous life. Bright crimson tentacles gruesomely sprouted from its backside, swirling around its shell with a bizarre motion. Link's eyes suddenly grew wide with fright. He was paralyzed._

_ But he still had the mask. The one his opponent had so irrationally given to him. The one housing the Fierce Deity. He had to trust its power. It was the only way to win this battle. He took out the mask, its face nearly reflecting him as an adult. Something in its eyeholes made him want it. Made him want its almighty omnipotence. _

_His adversary was nearly at his doorstep. He had to act now! _

_Not following his own accord, his hand threw the mask onto his face. Instantly a shearing convulsion went up his spinal cord and into his brain. The mask felt as if it was melting onto his face. His arms and legs thrashed violently as his body began to take another shape, a taller shape. One that would defeat his contestant. But something had altered. He didn't want this. There was too much pain! Too much change! _

_With the final steps of transformation setting in, he let out an intense cry of pain, which echoed across the battlefield, frightening his foe. Yes. He had managed to scare even the most mischievous of his axis of evil. Yes. He had managed to scare __**that mask**_.

_Yes. He had frightened the evil, roguish, and ghastly Ma-_

"Link." Malon's voice disrupting his silence. "Are you okay?"

Link lifted a hand to his head and removed his cap.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He answered, keeping his eyes on the Happy Mask Salesman, who stared vacantly back at him.

"I doubt it." the salesman retorted. "I can tell there is something on your mind. Don't try to back out of it."

Ignoring the psychic nature of his reply, Link sighed and decided to let it all out. There wouldn't be much holding him back.

"It's your mask." He said, the room suddenly becoming darker.

The Happy Mask Salesman stared at him with fear and confusion.

"Which one?" he asked, intrigued.

"You know all too well."

The entrepreneur's eyes darted anxiously around the room, checking to see if anyone was watching them. He then gestured for Malon and Link to follow him into the ruined storage room, where he dashed to the back, where there was a metal door with six keyholes.

"I was hoping no one would ask me about this." He said shakily. "It's not a topic I like to discuss. But, since you brought it up, I was hoping I would show you this. I just can't keep this room a secret any longer."

He pulled a large keychain out of his cloak and confidently inserted one of the keys into the first hole, and turned it. A mechanism inside the door clicked. He then went to the next key, and did the same. Once again, the faint click from inside the door sounded off. And so on and so forth, until he reached the last key.

"Can I trust you two to never tell anyone about this?" he asked, his hand trembling with angst.

"Of course." Link answered, trying to sound as positive as he could and attempting to ignore the fact that the salesman's hand was quivering sadistically.

With that, he turned the last key, and the door swung wide open, filling the air with an uncanny chill. Malon looked down into the intimidating darkness, unsure whether or not to stay any longer.

"Come."

All together, they descended down the staircase, the eerie feel in the air lingering around like mice. Link could tell that they weren't the only ones here. They were being watched, or better yet… stalked.

But when they reached the bottom, they hadn't been attacked. They were all alive and well, standing at the mouth of a giant room. The Happy Mask Salesman stared at the middle, his eyes wide with dread. Link too, was frightened of the scene.

"What the hell is this?"

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So, yeah. How'd you like it? I thought it was pretty good for a second chapter. Although, I think I tried to be like too many books (cough cough, Stephen King) at some parts, especially the flashbacks. But I think I constructed this very well, and I hope to continue it. I probably won't get the next chapter up for a few days, but I promise you, it will be there sometime this week.

I got this just in time for Halloween!


	3. Anxiety

**READ THIS BEFORE GOING ON:**

This chapter of "Just a Game" contains mild inappropriate language and a spooky mood at one part.

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Irony flickered in Link's eyes. He could hardly believe what he saw. The room he stood in was nearly circular with large glass walls positioned on each side of the room, towering high above his head. The one farthest away from him had an enormous circular indentation with a design garnishing the inside.

Fear began to bubble inside of his stomach, filling his throat with a disgusting flavor of panic. Before he knew it, he had thrown up all over the glass floor, giving it a bright compilation of colors, compared to its dull, boring blue.

"Link!" Malon said, alarmed by his unexpected state of sickness.

She rushed to his side, placing her hand on his back as he released the last thrust of vomit.

"Is something wrong?" the Happy Mask Salesman asked, with a smidge of worry in his eyes.

_ It's here! It's here!_

Link stared up at the hefty groove on the opposite wall. He pictured _his enemy _sealed on the wall, eyes black with inertia. He knew what this place was. This is where he fought Termina's nemesis. This was inside the Moon.

"You remember, don't you?" Link asked the salesman, wiping the gross gag from his lips.

"Remember what?" he replied, his tone filled with confusion.

"Termina?"

"Yes, I remember it. That's where I grew up. What about it?"

"But don't you remember? I was there! You told me to find _your mask._"

"I don't recall telling you to do anything of such. I would never tell anyone to go on such a suicidal mission! Finding that mask is impossible! There's no way I'll ever get it back!"

Suddenly, Link's eyes grew dark.

"Are you saying…" he stuttered, not believing the words he just heard. "…that you never got it back?"

"Of course not!" he shouted, clearly not happy with the subject. "I haven't seen the damn thing for three years! Not after that little bastard stole it from me!"

"You've already told me this…" Link quietly thought aloud.

"What?"

"I said you already told me this! You told me your mask was lost, you told me to find it!"

Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced Link's brain, throwing him to the glass floor. His body began to convulse and shake with a frightening motion.

"Link!" Malon screamed, rushing to his side, but the Happy Mask Salesman stopped her with the hilt of his musket.

"Let him be." He demanded. "He's been thrown into battle against his mind."

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"Leave me alone!"

_But I don't want to._

"Please, leave me alone!"

_Come on, let's play a game. Maybe it'll cheer you up._

"I don't want to play any game! Just get out of my head!"

_I know. How about Tag?_

"Get away from me!"

_ No? Would you like to play Hide and Seek instead?_

"Just get the hell out of my head!"

_Oh, I know the perfect game!_

"Agh! Stop it!"

_Let's play Good Guys Versus Bad Guys._

"I'll kill you!"

_That's sounds like a bad guy. Why don't you be him?_

"I swear to the goddesses I'll kill you!"

_And I'll be the good guy…_

"In Hell you will!"

_Now let's stop fooling around and play!_

"What the… AGH!"

::::::::::

Link's eyes opened up to reveal a familiar face. Blue eyes, gold hair, triangular earrings…

"Zelda?" he managed to cough out.

"Yes." She replied, giving him a warm smile. "You're fine now."

He attempted to sit up, but his head told him not to. Zelda didn't seem too happy about it either.

"Don't even try." She warned. "You've been out for a few hours. That farm girl and the strange man brought you in. Said you went into a seizure and fainted. When I had fully analyzed your condition, I noticed your heart was beating faster and faster until it was abnormal for any Hylian. I was forced to give you this."

She held up a small vial of purple liquid. To Link, it looked recognizable in a way, but he still couldn't make out what it was.

"What's that?" he asked, intrigued to know.

"Tears from the Great Fairies. They are very difficult to achieve." Zelda answered, with a tone of pride in her voice.

"I guess you are supposed to make a Great Fairy cry?"

"Correct you are. It's nearly impossible to."

"How did you manage it?"

Zelda immediately gasped upon exposure to the question, and looked away with an expression of sorrow spread across her face.

"I… I didn't." she stuttered, trying to keep her voice steady. "My… my… my father did."

Link was about to stop her, but she continued out of courage.

"He never told me how, but he did tell me what they do. A drop is supposed to fill a mortal with such great power that their heart restarts. An entire vial would fill them with such prodigious perpetuity that it would overwhelm and… kill them."

Trying to keep the topic away from Zelda's father, Link tried to add a detail to the conversation.

"So it's like ambrosia?"

She looked at him, blue eyes swollen with tears, and just then he realized that he may have said something to provoke her bawling even more.

"Yes." She retorted. "But ambrosia is even more dangerous. It kills mortals upon contact with the air."

Link was relieved to see Zelda not break. He had brought up a topic that Zelda did not wish to converse about. But it was over. She was done.

She stalked over to the doorway at the other side of the room and about-faced towards Link.

"Listen, the bathroom is across the hall if you need it, and there's a lantern on the table next to you in case you have to use it late at night." she informed.

Link nodded, and was about to fall asleep again when Zelda grunted to confirm she wasn't finished yet.

"And just as a small note… be careful."

She walked off into the halls, leaving Link to lay in his bed, alone, watching the candlestick by his pillow slowly burn out, sending him into the pitch blackness of the night, and sleep which soon followed.

Even lost in his dreams, Link seemed daintily haunted by Zelda's final words.

::::::::::

_ What is that noise?_

Link's eyes flew open. It was still dark. He blindly grabbed for the lantern on the end table beside him and flicked on the switch, sending a blazing light into his eyes. The first thing he was able to focus on was the doorway.

_There's someone there._

He grabbed the lantern and aimed it at the doorway. Nothing was there. But he could have sworn he saw someone there!

_Or something._

His eyes vigorously stared at the doorway, expecting something to pop up there. But as he sat there longer and longer, it became apparent that there was absolutely nothing there. Yet, curiosity filled his brain, begging for him to take a look, to really confirm that nothing was there.

Before he knew it, he had thrown his feet over the side of the bed, and walked out into the long, ominous hallway of Hyrule Castle's keep.

_See? Nothing to worry about._

He smiled to himself, but stopped dead as he stared across the carpet floor and at the corner at the end of the corridor. What he saw there froze his blood with an arctic chill from his spine. A silhouetted figure stood on the far side of the hall, completely still and impossible to recognize. Link copied the creature's stance. He knew it was the best choice for now.

As they both stood there, frozen in time, Link began to get a very eerie feeling by staring at this… thing. In his view, it seemed to be getting closer, without really moving its feet. Finally, before it could get in any position for him to study its true appearance, Link decided to take action.

He jumped back into his room and slammed the door shut. His hand quickly activated the several locks on the door. But he knew that wouldn't stop it. Without thinking clearly, he moved the wardrobe over the barricaded door as a support.

As a last resort, if this thing did get in, Link hid under the bed and switched the lantern off, putting the room in complete darkness, except for the radiant moonlight shining through the window.

Silence followed. Too much in fact. He wanted to at least hear it try to break in.

The door bumped. Link's wish was satisfied, and his fear was fueled as well. Now he knew it wasn't a mirage, or a figment of his imagination. He didn't know what it was, but he had to get away from it, and now.

The door gave a violent heave, and he faintly heard one of the locks break. This thing was going to get in, since the six locks weren't as sturdy as their original seven. And this hiding spot will surely not stop it from noticing him. He had to get out of here, now!

Scurrying out from under the bed, he grabbed the dead lantern and ran to the window. He used all of his strength to push it up, just in time to hear another lock break. He examined the surroundings outside, eyes racing back and forth across the scenery for an exit that wouldn't kill him.

Another metallic snap, sending the iron piece flying across the room, nearly hitting Link in the head. Four more locks and the wardrobe should buy him enough time to get out.

Quickly, he checked the exterior walls, looking for a place to hide outside the castle. There! A small ledge was only a meter away from him. He set the lantern on the windowsill and pushed himself up right beside it. A lock broke, and this time whizzed right past his cheek, scraping it with its tinny ragged edge. It fell far off the castle walls, landing in the moat far below. Link watched it all the way down, warning him that he had to be careful on these ledges, or he could fall off and kill himself.

Slow but steady, he stood up on the miniature ridge that, if any smaller, would be impossible to stand up on. He felt the cold breeze of the night, soothing his fear, but as another lock snapped off, death came knocking on his door again.

Careful not to slip, he closed the window to hide any evidence that he had used the window as his escape route. Then, light as a feather, he stepped onto the next ledge, and squatted down to wait. Although barely in earshot, he heard the sixth lock break loose from its wooden cell.

Shit! The lantern! It was still on the ledge!

As if Death wished to end his life now, the final lock broke within the room, and one last menacing bump pushed over the wardrobe, and the door swung wide as the thing entered the room. But, Link's lantern was long gone from the ledge.

Breathing heavily, he struggled not to look at the window, which was barely in his view. He did not want to see that creature's face at all. Or if the creature was still there. It could be gone now. He could go back into his room and hide under the bed. Of course, the monster would have already checked there, and would have no intention at all to check it again.

A terrifying growl silenced his thoughts. He wasn't going back in the castle. Well, that way anyway. He looked at what he had been leaning on. Another window! He could escape into another room!

Of course, he had to keep quiet if he was going to do this. One false move and he would be dead. Or worse.

Suddenly, a banging of window glass sounded off in his mind. The thing knew where he was! But how? He had left no evidence at all! Except… the window.

The monstrous bastard was clever! He saw only six locks in the room, and not seven! One had fallen out the window, which he had shut! If he had kept it open, he might have actually avoided this.

As fast as ever, heart beating with heavy thumps, he threw open the window, feeling the warm atmosphere of the castle. He jumped in just as his bedroom window shattered.

Making one last effort to hide himself, he slammed the window shut, knowing the creature would be on its way now. He had to hide.

His eyes anxiously searched for a hiding space. The terrifying moan of the monster echoed from the open door on the other side of the room. He froze, paralyzed in shaking fear. Creaking footsteps followed, as well as more groaning. It soon was at the doorway, eyes swishing to and fro across the room.

But Link had vanished.

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I'm very sorry this took SO long to post. Call of Duty: Black Ops came out on November 9, and well, I got distracted. But it's here now, and if you haven't already been confused, this chapter may enlighten the dizzy thoughts.

Enjoy anyways, even though I rushed it a bit as well.

Oh, one more thing before you stop reading this boring end note. If you weren't scared at the monster part in the castle, don't worry, I'll make a better one in the next chapters.


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